Snow City, Northern Country.

The Astor family's business banquet was in full swing at their grand villa estate, a glittering affair filled with prestigious guests and an endless flow of fine wine.

In a quiet corner, Edward Astor shuddered awake.

Memories rushed into his mind, and he immediately felt like dying from sheer frustration.

For the seventh time.

He had been hit by a car while delivering food, only to wake up in a system-driven transmigration scenario as the villain in an over-the-top web novel.

According to the system, if he could survive until the end without being killed by the protagonist, he'd earn a reward to bring back to the real world.

With no choice—and his mother in urgent need of life-saving surgery—Edward had no option but to accept the challenge.

But in his previous six attempts, he had died increasingly miserable deaths.

These protagonists were absolute monsters!

Unreasonable, overpowered maniacs.

They excelled at everything: medicine, ancient martial arts, cultivation, gambling, x-ray vision—you name it, they could do it.

And their luck was absurd.

No matter how hard a villain like him tried, he's all inevitably going to be easily defeated by the protagonist while the protagonist walked away arm-in-arm with yet another stunning beauty.

Speaking of beauties—every single one of them belonged to the protagonist. Without exception.

Once, Edward had dared to exchange a few extra words with protagonist's woman and was instantly reduced to ashes.

Was there no justice? No law?

Shaking off his exasperation, Edward dashed into the bathroom to gather his thoughts.

He had already been killed by James, John, Michael, William, David, Joseph and Davis Howard.

This time, the novel was titled .

What a disgustingly cliché name.

And the protagonist was Davis Howard—again.

A war god from the frontier, he had returned to unify the entire Northern Country and was currently undercover as a security guard, worming his way into Victoria Windsor's life.

According to the plot, today was Chapter 9.

During Edward and Victoria's engagement announcement, Davis would heroically intervene, break Edward's leg, and exit the scene for a few chapters while recovering.

Meanwhile, Davis would win Victoria's heart, and the two would embark on their shameless love story…

Edward splashed cold water on his face and stared into the mirror with gritted teeth.

"This time, I'll survive until the end. I'll get that system reward and save my mom!"

After composing himself and resolving to lay low, Edward stepped out of the bathroom.

Only to see Victoria waiting outside.

She stood there in an elegant evening gown, a true vision of perfection—graceful, ethereal, and breathtakingly beautiful.

Her figure was flawless, her expression cold and aloof.

There was no mistaking it: she was the female lead.

The eldest daughter of the Windsor family.

The young CEO of Chifeng Group.

The goddess Edward had worshipped for three years.

Most importantly: Davis's woman.

Edward forced a smile, but before he could speak, Victoria coldly declared, "Edward, I will never marry you. Give up on that idea!"

Edward chuckled internally.

[Lady, please! Marry you? I'd like to live a few more years, thank you very much!]

[Sure, you've got the looks and the figure, but unfortunately, your IQ drops to zero the moment Davis enters the scene.]

[Once Davis wins Victoria over, the Windsor family's fortune will fall right into his lap. What a tragic fate.]

Out loud, Edward said, "I agree."

"You… agree?"

Victoria was stunned.

Something felt off. She had only heard him say "I agree," but somehow, it felt like he had said a whole paragraph's worth of thoughts just now.

For three years, he had chased her relentlessly, clinging to her like gum on a shoe.

Their families had arranged this engagement to finally put an end to the chaos he had caused.

But now… he just agreed?

Edward smiled, "Victoria, I've realized we're not suitable for each other. Let's just be friends from now on."

[Hurry up and go be Davis's arm candy! You and the other 999 women can line up to worship him and polish his boots.]

[My top priority right now is to sever ties with this silly woman as cleanly as possible.]

Victoria's eyes widened, she thought:

[ Wait… was she hearing his thoughts?

Did he just call me an arm candy? And suggest I'd be one of 999 other women?

What nonsense! I am Victoria, would never lower herself like that.

But wait… Davis? The security guard I had recently hired? ]

Her expression darkened as she stared daggers at Edward.

Edward froze.

[What's her problem now? I'm not marrying you anymore, isn't that enough?]

[But hey, she's Davis's future woman, so I better not offend her too much.]

He quickly added with a smile, "Let's go explain this to our elders. Take it slow, no rush…"

Victoria stormed off toward the main hall, her chest heaving with anger, she thought:

[ Three years! Three years of gifts and flattery, and now he's calling me names in his head?

What is this guy up to? ]

Trailing behind her, Edward mused:

[Three years down the drain. Oh well, with my villain status, I can find plenty of beauties elsewhere.]

[This silly woman was destined to be someone else's trophy wife.]

[ I have to get out of this stupid woman's way, and there mustn't be the slightest bit of procrastination! ]

Victoria couldn't stand it anymore. She stopped abruptly, spun around, and glared at him.

Edward quickly smiled, "Don't worry, Victoria! I swear I'm not up to anything. Once we call off this engagement, I'll disappear from your life entirely!"

"And from now on, I will never bother you again. In fact, it will be nearly impossible for you to even see me. Starting from this moment, our paths will never cross again—we'll completely disappear from each other's lives! Does that make you happy?"

Victoria was seething.

[ What did he just say? He wants to disappear entirely? Am I trash to him now?

Are you that annoyed with me? So much so that you can't even wait a quarter of an hour?

This man! It's ... pissing me off! ]

At that moment, the hall doors opened, and both families' elders were staring at the two of them.

"Oh dear, are you two arguing again?"

"Come inside and talk it out!"

Edward greeted them warmly and spoke first, "Uncle, Auntie, Dad, Mom, Victoria and I have agreed—we're calling off the engagement."

With an expression of deep sincerity, he added, "Victoria strong, independent, smart, brave, she deserves someone better—someone who truly loves her. I only want what's best for her."

He made a sad face and punched himself in the chest, 'As much as I like her, love her and cherish her more than I love myself. But true love is becoming, letting go!'

His performance was Oscar-worthy. Everyone was shocked.

Frederick Astor didn't believe for a second that his son could be so considerate.

[ I'm his father! Do you think I don't know what kind of person you are? This brat is definitely up to something! ]

Edward, on the other hand, was quite pleased with his own performance.

[ Poor Windsor family. After generations of building their wealth, it'll all end up in Davis's hands. ]

[ Honestly, these family heads are unbelievable. It's not enough that their daughters end up as someone's harem member—they'll even hand over hundreds of billions of assets. Their brains must be full of holes. ]

For some reason, Victoria could suddenly hear Edward's inner thoughts.

[ But if what he was thinking was true, then this plotline was absolutely absurd. I'm supposed to become someone's harem member? And that someone is the bodyguard I hired just a few days ago? ]

No way. She couldn't let Edward off the hook. He was definitely hiding something.

Meanwhile, Edward was still up front, passionately delivering his speech. He spoke about how his refusal to get engaged was driven by his noble character, his upright morals, and his deep concern for Victoria's well-being as well as the future of the Windsor family.

Victoria stood beside him, watching coldly as he performed. Her chest was practically bursting with anger.

Everyone was stunned into silence.

Frederick Astor turned to Victoria and asked, "Victoria, what do you think?"

Victoria smiled slightly and, with a statement that shocked everyone, said, "Uncle, Auntie, Mom, Dad, I agree to the engagement with Edward."

Edward's head snapped around, his eyes widening to an unprecedented size.

He looked at Victoria as if he had just seen a ghost.

Victoria's expression was icy, her gaze sharp, and a faint, mocking smirk tugged at the corner of her lips.